


stars in your eyes

by allinaes



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Hurt Lance (Voltron), Langst, M/M, Major Character Injury, Near Death, Sad Keith (Voltron), Worried Keith (Voltron), dw im not that mean, he'll get better tho, im sorry i hurt my boy again
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-24
Updated: 2018-03-24
Packaged: 2019-03-23 11:35:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,281
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13786779
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/allinaes/pseuds/allinaes
Summary: Lance woke up coughing, the usually cold white lights of his room not on yet, probably because it was the middle of the night.This was the fifth night in a row that this had happened, and it was getting worse each time. Like last night, there was no blood on his hand when he pulled it away from his mouth. Lance glanced at it in horror.--Lance gets sick, and he doesn't get a chance to tell the others before it's too late.Also, Keith's eyes are very pretty.





	stars in your eyes

**Author's Note:**

> i hope this is good it's only my second vld fic (n my first vld multichapter)  
> also if u need to know abt triggers and/or warnings abt this fic pls message me beforehand and i'll do my best to tell u w/o spoiling the plot! (also i hope the rating is accurate? lmk if u think i shld change it)

Lance woke up coughing, the usually cold white lights of his room not on yet, probably because it was the middle of the night.

This was the fifth night in a row that this had happened, and it was getting worse each time. Like last night, there was no blood on his hand when he pulled it away from his mouth. Lance glanced at it in horror.

He hadn’t thought of going to Coran or Allura about his sickness before, mainly because he had thought that it was merely a cold, one that would go away in a few days. So no one knew about this other than him.

He made a decision that in the morning he would tell them, so they could put him in a healing pod and he’d be okay.

 

* * *

 

But it didn’t work out like that, because just as Lance was beginning to drift back to sleep, the familiar blaring sound of the alarm blasted in his ears. Groaning, he got up from his bed, walking towards the pile of armor in his room.

 

He was the last one to get to the hangar, the rest of them impatiently waiting for him. When he joined the rest of the paladins, Allura began explaining their task. They were supposed to defend the castle and the planet they were close to, but they were told not to form Voltron – that would cause the Galra to call for help, and the castle was not able to go inside a wormhole to escape at the moment. All this time, Lance spotted Keith glancing towards him, something like – concern? – in his eyes. Did Lance look that bad? When he’d looked at himself in the mirror when he got up, the bags under his eyes didn’t seem so bad, but maybe he was wrong. If he did look off, he was surprised that Keith was the only one who noticed. 

As they began to go to their lions, Keith walked beside him, surprising Lance.

“Are you feeling okay?” he asked, his voice worried.

Lance nodded, forcing a small smile. Keith hesitantly returned it, and the soft smile he gave immediately made Lance feel ten times better – especially because it was directed at _him_.

“Thank you,” Lance said, and while he knew Keith thought he was saying it for asking him about how he was doing, it was more for the smile. Before all of Lance’s insides could melt, however, Allura’s urgent voice called out to them.

“Paladins! Please hurry! The castle is under attack.” Followed by Shiro’s deep voice,

“Keith, Lance, where are you?”

“We’re coming, Shiro!” Keith called out, before speaking quietly to Lance, “You can talk to me, if you need.” Lance’s heart hammered so hard, he thought it was going to burst out of his chest as Keith quickly ran to his lion before Lance could reply.

 

* * *

 

Lance gasped as a sharp pain hit him in the stomach, and before he could wonder what it was from, the small herd of Galra planes he had been avoiding advanced on him.

“Lance! Behind you!” he heard Hunk shout before grunting. Lance listened to Hunk, narrowly dodging a shot from one of the Galra.

 

As the Galra began retreating once their main ship had been damaged, the paladins made their way back to the castle, congratulating each other on the small victory.

Lance once again felt the pain in his stomach, and he assumed that it was from the virus, or whatever sickness he had. He reminded himself to tell Allura when he got back as he forced a smile to Hunk and Pidge.

 

Once they got inside the castle to the main room, however, Allura went straight to the point and told them that they needed to get resources for a species so they would join the coalition, and had to search for them immediately. Leaving no time for Lance to tell anyone, Allura gave everyone assignments while explaining what they were supposed to do – go down to an uninhabited planet and collect the essential mineral.

They were supposed to stick together, not to split up under any condition, because while they did know that there were no inhabitants, there could be dangerous plants or unknown conditions on the planet. 

Sighing, Lance once again told himself that he would let the others know when they got back from the mission. He didn’t want to worry her now, and he also didn’t want to miss the mission – he should help as much as he could. Plus, he didn’t know if it was serious or not, and it most likely wasn't. Nothing would happen.

 

* * *

 

When they got out of the castle on to the planet, for a moment Lance could forget about the pain. Bright green leaves towered above him and the others as they walked down towards the area in which they were supposed to find the resources they were sent to this planet for – a mineral called krolium only found on the planet An’mil. It vaguely resembled Earth – the plant-like trees holding morning dew droplets on their leaves in the same way, the sky a similar bright, pretty blue. The strange familiarity comforted Lance, while at the same time saddening him, the nostalgia and memories from home crashing into him like waves. He remembered the smell of his mother’s cooking drifting up to his room where he was messing around with his siblings and cousins on his bed; the warm smiles shared between his family; the loving hugs he received from his parents. The memories were almost overwhelming, making him smile softly but sadly, his heart aching in his chest.

The atmosphere, as Coran had told them, was similar to the one on Earth, but it was not similar enough for humans to breathe in, so they wore their helmets. They had to walk a while in the heat, and not being able to take off their helmets shortened their breaths and tired them even more. Lance sweated more than he should, his sickness probably making it worse. But, they trudged on, determined to get the mineral before the sun set. The birds chirping softly in the distance calmed the paladins, setting a peaceful atmosphere. Even the smells reminded Lance of home, the smell of fresh rain filling his nose. 

 

As Lance and the others walked on, he noticed several ponds almost big enough to be lakes reflecting the sun’s rays, casting little rainbows here and there. To Lance, the planet seemed like Earth, only a bit more magical – the orange tinted clouds enforced his thought.

Another thing Coran had told them was about the animals – how they were much bigger than they should expect, and it proved to be right when the paladins spotted a bunny-like creature running towards them. While crossing through a forest-like cluster of trees, the bunny made its way over to them. In the distance, the animal only seemed slightly bigger than normal, but they quickly discovered that it was _giant_. The whiskers themselves were almost the size of Lance. He felt like an ant, the feeling emphasized by the plant-like trees looming over him.

“Paladins! Do not interact with the animals. If you steer clear and ignore them, they should leave you alone and unharmed,” Coran spoke loudly through the comms when he heard their distressed voices. They did as they were told, and thankfully the animal continued hopping on its way away from the group. Everyone sighed in unison, tired relief in their eyes, showing how much they didn’t want to fight anything at the moment.

 

Lance’s moments of admiring the planet were ruined by what felt like a stab to his gut. He coughed loudly, breaking the peaceful silence that had surrounded the paladins. He tried to hide his grimace as much as he could, but his cough had already grabbed everyone’s attention. Hunk leaned over to him and patted his shoulder.

“Lance, buddy, you okay?”

Lance nodded, giving Hunk his best smile, though he didn’t think it was very convincing.

“I’m alright, don’t worry about me. Must be some allergies from the plants.” Hunk just looked at him, an eyebrow raised, clearly not believing Lance’s lies - he knew that Lance’s plant allergies only affected his nose, making it runny. Not by coughing. But, he let the subject drop, for which Lance was thankful.

They continued to journey across the planet, thankfully not encountering any more giant creatures on the way. However, they also didn’t find the resource they were looking for. Not even in the field Allura had convinced them they would find it in.

“Princess, are we sure that we will find the krolium here?” Shiro asked, the bags in his eyes pronounced.

“Yeah, sorry Allura, but I’m not seeing any signs of it anywhere,” Pidge added, frowning at the scanner she was holding.

They heard Allura’s annoyed grunt before she spoke, “Yes, paladins. I’m sure. That is very strange, Pidge, for I am certain it should be… right in the area you are standing in. Could you check again, just to make sure?”

As Pidge nodded and tried again, Hunk’s stomach grumbled.

“Are you sure getting this – this _krolium_ or whatever – is necessary? Right now? Because I gotta say, my stomach’s not happy about it.”

“Neither are my _legs_ ,” Lance added, collapsing on the bright green grass. _Or his stomach, either_ , he wanted to add. The pain had diminished, but it was still there, like a constant reminder that he could die any minute.

“I am very sorry, paladins, but we must collect the mineral. It is essential as to get the Kucox species on our side, especially since we need all the help we can get,” Allura replied. They all groaned, except for Shiro, trying as always to remain professional.

“We understand, Princess. We’ll try to find some.”

Keith sighed, joining Lance on the ground, laying on his back to look at the clouds.

“These are cool,” he said, and for a moment Lance sat confused, until he noticed what Keith was looking at. He lied down as well, gazing up at the strange orange clouds.

“Yeah,” he said softly, “Would be cool to have them on Earth. I guess the white ones are nice too though.”

“Yeah,” Keith’s voice was even smaller than Lance’s. He turned to look at him.

“Do you miss it? Earth, I mean?” Lance asked, noticing the faint dust of freckles like constellations on Keith’s cheeks and nose.

“I guess. I don’t know. It doesn’t feel right, to miss it. I didn’t have much there. No family.” Keith turned his head to look at Lance in the same position. “No friends, either,” he added after a moment, quieter.

Lance was so overwhelmed by the purpleness of Keith’s eyes that he almost forgot to reply.

“That’s not true. I mean, you’re allowed to miss it, even though there might not be anyone to miss you.” It sounded blunter than he intended, but Keith understood what he meant.

“I guess. Thank you,” Keith added, smiling the smallest smile that Lance wouldn’t have noticed if he wasn’t studying him so closely. It was a smile that made his heart thump in his chest, so loud he worried that Keith could hear it. They lay there, for an instant, sharing a hidden smile between each other, saying nothing.

The quiet moment was broken by a loud shout.

“I think I found it!” Pidge exclaimed, making both Keith and Lance sit up straight.

“Huh? What? What happened?” They looked around, eyes wide in fear and confusion.

Pidge rolled her eyes, “The krolium, dummies. I found it.”

“Where is it? Why couldn’t we find it before?” Hunk asked, crouching next to Pidge, looking at her tablet.

“It should be in the dirt under the plants surrounding the field. My scanner didn’t pick it up because I think it only picks up the elements I told it to, and since I only know the ones on Earth, it didn’t detect the krolium. Huh. Weird. I’ll have to fix that.”

“Great! Good job Pidge. Let’s get working on it now,” Shiro announced, forcing a smile.

 

They each got makeshift shovels and began digging around the plants, where Pidge said they would find the mineral. Eventually, Hunk found a small metal-like stone, and everyone else got encouraged now that they knew it was actually here. Lance was the next to find one, slightly bigger but not big enough. When Keith found one bigger than Lance’s, he declared a competition to see who found the biggest mineral piece, and although Keith rolled his eyes and Pidge groaned, it lightened the mood.

As the sky changed from the bright artificial blue to a darker shade, oranges and pinks tinting the sky as the sun set, they had enough of the mineral to satisfy Allura. Pidge had won Lance’s little ‘competition’, finding an almost thirty-pound rock of krolium. Lance pouted, complaining that he would be able to find a bigger one, even though he was exhausted. The rest of them shook their heads, chuckling, saying that it was already dark out, and they should go back. Lance walked beside Keith, making idle chit-chat with him, the sad talk about their nostalgia of Earth almost forgotten. They began to make their long way back to the castle, Hunk and Shiro taking turns to help carry the basket that was almost bigger than Pidge. Lance got several more sharp pains in his midsection on the way, each time slightly getting worse, but he tried to ignore them. In the middle of the walk back, he had to pretend he needed to use the bathroom to get rid of the blood in his mouth.

Suddenly, only about a half hour walk away from the castle, Lance broke out into a coughing fit. Everyone’s eyes were on him, and he wasn’t quick enough to hide the blood dribbling into his hands. He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to calm the cough to no avail. When he opened them again, he was on his knees on the floor, blood covering his hands and parts of his shirt. His friends’ worried eyes were all on him, panicking and trying to do _something_ , anything to make Lance stop. Shiro was standing away from the mess, trying to contact Allura and Coran to get a healing pod ready, to come down because _Lance wasn’t okay, something was happening_. He then joined the rest of them in trying to get Lance to calm down, to _breathe_ , in and out, in and out, in and out.

His coughing slowed down, finally letting him take a deep breath and try to wipe his hands. He saw little stars floating in his eyes, clouding his vision slightly. It cleared when Keith moved right in front of him, eyebrows turned up in worry, eyes wet.

“ _Lance_ , Lance, listen to me,” he said, voice muffled at first. “Can you hear me?” Lance tried to nod, a pounding headache making him wince at the sudden loudness of Keith’s voice. “Good. Listen, Lance. What happened? What’s happening to you?” Lance saw Keith trying to search for answers in his expression.

“I-I don’t know. My-my stomach. It _hurts_.”

“Where? Show me, where?” Lance attempted to point to the place that hurt the most, but even lifting his arms took too much effort. He heard Hunk and Pidge’s voices in the distance,

“What’s going on? Keith, what is he saying?”

“Is he gonna be okay? Oh my God, is it bad?”

Lance saw Keith’s lips forming words that looked like _I don’t know_. He didn’t hear them, though, the voices only a muffled buzz in the back of his head. He could only feel the burning in his throat, the pounding in his head, the pain in his stomach. He groaned, or a sound that seems like a groan escaped him, head lolling to the side, his muscles refusing to hold him up. He felt someone’s arms – Keith’s, probably – lay him down gently on the grass, head turned up to look at the trees blocking his view of the star-lit sky.

“I-I don’t understand,” Pidge said, frowning at the scans her tablet had made of Lance. “It’s saying there’s nothing wrong? Not externally, and… not internally either. This is so weird. Is my scanner broken?”

“Allura’s saying it could be a virus from another planet, and that it might be harder to cure. Lance, do you remember feeling strange after eating something?” Shiro crouched down beside him, a calming hand on his shoulder.

Lance shook his head slowly, “No. I-I can’t remember,” he croaked out. “Maybe…maybe when we had that dinner at the Dothu species’ planet. You remember?”

“Yes. I remember. What about it?”

“The…the bread thing they had, I think. My stomach didn’t feel too good after that.”

“Why would it only be you, though? Didn’t we all eat it?” Hunk questioned, tears threatening to pour out of his eyes.

“N-no. I was the only one. I think. You guys ate like…salad or something,” Lance said, his thoughts coming back to him, “Hah. Healthy people.”

Keith made a strangled sound, baffled by how Lance could make a joke when he was _dying_.

“I think I remember,” he said, voice raw. Lance nodded to him, eyes feeling like they should roll to the back of his head, his eyelids feeling like weights, straining to stay open.

All their thoughts were broken when Lance began coughing again, this time even worse than before. His skin had gotten paler, the usually golden brown glow reduced to a lighter, sickly shade. His eyes were bloodshot, squeezed shut as he coughed, blood dribbling over his chin and spreading more on his shirt. The pain was sharper, worse than before, causing tears to leak out of his eyes. 

His friends were all crowded around him, all of them with an abundance of tears in their eyes, all of them crying broken sobs for him to stop, to not die.

“I love you guys,” Lance coughed, “Thank you. For-for everything.”

It was Keith that sobbed the loudest and wrapped his arms around Lance. His own arms felt helpless at his sides, not even able to return the embrace.

"Please, please, Lance, _no_. Stay with m-stay with us. _Please_." 

He wished he could feel the warmth of Keith’s arms around him in a different situation. He wished he could stare longer into the deep purple-tinted eyes that mesmerized him. He wished he could stay, with Keith, with his friends that had so quickly become his family. He wished-

“Keith.” He spoke, his voice barely above a whisper. Keith’s sobs stopped for a moment, his head lifting from its position on Lance’s shoulder.

“Keith I-" but he couldn’t. Saying the words would only hurt Keith. They would only make him think of things that would never have happened anyways. They would only make him pity Lance, and he didn't want to be remembered like that. Oh, what a selfish man he was. So he closed his eyes and changed his words.

"I need to see the stars," he whispered. But he wasn't talking about the stars that Keith was quickly moving him from underneath the trees to be able to see clearer in the sky. No, he was talking about the galaxies in Keith's eyes, the infinite pools of stars he could stare at forever. 

He kept looking into those eyes as the world grew dimmer. Lance smiled softly, savoring his last look, saying his last goodbye as the desperate cries of his friends faded and darkness took him, like a mother taking her child into her arms. 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> plEASE DONT SCREAM AT ME I WASNT LYING WHEN THERE'S GONNA BE A HAPPY ENDING
> 
> me: man i hate langst why can't he just be happy and healthy and not almost die  
> also me: *only writes fics where lance is hurt*
> 
> i hope that was a decent enough read,,, there'll be one more chapter after this (i think?? i doubt there'll be more than that).  
> kudos and comments greatly appreciated!!  
> check out my [tumblr!](https://aggressivemragreste.tumblr.com/)


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